From Smart to Wise: Acting and Leading with Wisdom

Leaders tend to obstinately stick to the leadership style that brought them most success in the past, usually one of two extreme styles: functional leadership that focuses on operational excellence or smart leadership that focuses on growth. When a leader's focus is too functional, the organization becomes introverted and can focus too much on bottom-line profitability while missing out on top-line growth opportunities. But when leaders focus too much on smart leadership, the organization may experience quick growth but lose its effectiveness quickly.

From Smart to Wise offers a new approach that balances the two styles to achieve a form of wise leadership that is both functional and smart. Drawing on inspiring real-life stories of historical and contemporary wise leaders such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and even Mahatma Gandhi, the authors identify six characteristics of wise leaders and offer a practical framework to help readers develop their own style of wise leadership.

• A timely and innovative approach to leadership
• Written by noted speakers who conduct dozens of keynote speeches and workshops, training thousands of people annually

About the Authors

Prasad Kaipa, PhD, a CEO coach and advisor since 1990, has worked with about 120 C-level executives in Global Fortune 500 companies in the areas of innovation and leadership development. He is a senior research fellow and founding executive director of the Centre for Leadership, Innovation, and Change at the Indian School of Business (ISB) and has taught executive education programs through ISB, INSEAD, the London Business School, and the Tuck School of Business. He was the Richardson Visiting Fellow at the Center for Creative Leadership between 2010 and 2011.

Prasad cofounded the TiE Institute in Silicon Valley in 2002 to assist entrepreneurs in developing effective management teams, communication skills, and leadership perspective. He has served on the boards of the International Leadership Association, Society for Organizational Learning, Marico Innovation Foundation, Samskrita Bharati, Integral Leadership Review, and Hindu University of North America.

Prasad’s research on wise leadership started when he was asked to research how people learn (and unlearn), lead, think, communicate, and collaborate while he was a research fellow at Apple University in 1989. He published the book Discontinuous Learning: Igniting Genius Within by Aligning Self, Work, and Family in 2006, and his writings are available on prasadkaipa.com and kaipagroup.com. He blogs regularly on HBR.org and has been featured in or written for Business Week, Economic Times, New York Times, Financial Times, CFO Magazine, San Jose Mercury News, Washington Post, among others.

Navi Radjou is an innovation and leadership consultant based in Palo Alto, California. He is also a Fellow at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, and a World Economic Forum (WEF) faculty member. He is a member of WEF’s Global Agenda Council on Design Innovation and a columnist on HBR.org.

Navi coauthored the acclaimed Jugaad Innovation: Think Frugal, Be Flexible, Generate Breakthrough Growth, which the Economist calls “the most comprehensive book yet to appear on the subject” of frugal innovation.

Most recently, he served as executive director of the Centre for India & Global Business at Judge Business School. Previously he was a long-time vice president and analyst at Forrester Research in Boston and San Francisco, advising senior executives worldwide on breakthrough growth strategies. Navi has consulted with Global Fortune 1000 companies, including Ernst & Young, General Motors, IBM, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, SAP, and Tata Consultancy Services, on innovation and leadership strategies.

Featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and the Financial Times, he has authored articles for MIT Sloan Management Review, Bloomberg Businessweek, and CNN. com. He has spoken at the World Economic Forum, Council on Foreign Relations, the Conference Board, Asia Society, and more.

An Indian-born French national, Navi earned a postgraduate degree from Ecole Centrale Paris and attended the Yale School of Management. Navi is a lifelong student of Eastern spiritual practices such as yoga, Ayurveda, and Buddhist meditation.